So they only shoot FTs when they've played a whole game? How does that happen in the first quarter (note the first quarter against the Magic was terrible). The "trick" is to practice FTs so much that it is a routine. Compare Yao and Hayes. Yao shoot the FT the EXACT same way every time because he has practiced literally tens of thousands of FTs in a disciplined manner. There is no way he was naturally a good shooter, but he has discipline. Hayes, on the other hand is clearly a more gifted athlete but has never bothered to treat shooting FTs seriously. Besides, aren't these guys supposed to be professionals and the best in the world at this craft??
so, let me know when he improves to 80% out of 300. Otherwise, he's still just sub 70s like most of us.
Um, 214/300 is *not* sub 70. My point is a kid can practice himself to around 70%. Why can't PROFESSIONALS?
look it up. Tim Duncan has gotten noticeable worse over time. Explain that with your philosophy that your son will get better over time. It is very hard to shoot 70% in game situations. Unless you are a woman in the WNBA. Apparently, they have a FT gene; or they are consumed with being better than men at sumpin...like making love to a woman better than men isn't enough.
Some can practice all they want but they'll never get it down. Just look at Shaq. You can't tell me that he has not practiced free throw shooting his whole career but yet he is still terrible at it. Yes they are pro's and they are without a doubt better than any of us here but they are far from perfect. Of course one can practice in the gym all they want and make so many free throws but when it comes down to making them in a game its on a whole new level. The pressure is on and its a different scenario.
mrm I just created a long rant about that exact thing... but you said it better than I could (it might be because people ask my why Chuck doesn't practice FT.. when we all know he does and it ticks me off) NE you are looking at things too simplistically, probably because you were recently coaching a team where all you are working on is fundamentals, believe me I have been there too.. but there is a vast difference between a 2nd grader learning free throws for the first time and a guy who has been shooting them the same way for years trying to retrain his hands and body to do something differently.
Thats another point I wanted to make. These pro's have been shooting a certain way practically their whole playing careers. For them to change that to tweak an aspect of their game could offset their whole game. It would be a difficult adjustment to change their shooting form. Think of it in terms of baseball and with what happened with Ensberg. He went away from his batting stance that made him successful and thus altered his whole game and never got back at his MVP level. Then he kept tweaking it and could never get it right and then it just gets to you mentally.
Sorry to double post like this but I would just like to add that another good example would be Lidge. That one monstrous HR by Pujols(has it even come back down yet?) made Lidge question his whole game. He went away from what made him successful and THOUGHT too much about what he was doing wrong that he was never the same again.
mrm32, I wouldn't be saying this except I get annoyed when people resort to other-sports examples to explain a sport, especially on a bball web site. It's like you don't know enough about bball to offer up an analogy in that sport...or you don't respect the sport enough to use it's own examples. Besides that...your argument is plain weak...strictly coincidental and anecdotal. see "Tiger Woods" and how he completely changed his mechanics after winning several majors...knowing he would get worse before better. some people just give up on mechanics changes and go back to what they did before...Tiger didn't. Then again, mechanics changes are often "taught" merely as a psych. It works for superstitious people. "Breathe through your eyes like Fernando"
So whats your point? My argument is weak because I can't use examples from basketball? All I'm trying to say is you can't have a player change the way he does things because it could possibly have a negative effect on their game. Maybe they have already tried to shoot differently but it just didn't help them out. It would be like telling Shawn Marion to change his shooting form because it's too ugly. Lets say he does. Will his shot be altered better or for worse? Probably worse because if it were to be better don't you think he would have changed it already. Now back to my free thrown argument...it does not matter how much you may practice in the gym, when your in the game and have played a significant amount of minutes running up and down the court, and jumping, and your body is TIRED it will have an effect on how you shoot your free throws.
Let us know the next time your son is shooting FTs so we can stand behind the basket and all around him and yell and scream. Then we'll see how he does. Most of these guys shoot well in practice.
I've played and shot FTs under those conditions (decrease the size of the audience by two orders of magnitude, though) so I know about the pressure in a small way; and yes, it does affect your shot. However, the majority of FTs in the NBA (and even in lowlife games that I played in) aren't high pressure situations. They are routine and you just step up and shoot the shot you've shot 1000s of times before. I was *never* a great shooter, yet I managed 70% from the line. But I tried to shoot the shot the same way every time. Also, basketball, while my passion, was not my profession. I needed to earn a living doing something else. I am confident that if I practiced enough, I could probably hit in the 75% range. *sniff* I agree that it is hard to change the way you do something. Hayes, Shaq and Ben Wallace, though, have such bad form that they really should completely revamp their shot. Hayes is young enough that he could spend an entire summer reworking his shot so that it is a natural "bend the knees, elbow in front, follow through with wrist" type of shot. If he does that, not only will he have a reasonable FT, he might even end up with a J! That's all I am asking. His FT practice, if it is using his typical poor form, is probably pretty useless. Yes, he does practice, but he's practicing and re-enforcing the wrong form and wrong motion. Even someone as clumsy and uncoordinated as Yao became a good FT and reasonable outside shooter.
I keep offering to teach the kid how to shoot a free throw, since he was a sophomore in college even. But apparently they think the coaches they pay thousands of dollars know more than me about shooting them. Imagine that!! I could even show them my 93% FT stat sheets from my high school varsity basketball teams, but they just won't budge. Believe me, I understand your frustration with Chuck's FTs ... I have had to live with it longer than you. I have to trust that the coaches that he is working with know (or at least think they know) what they are doing. I still think they should hire Rick Barry to teach him how to shoot underhanded... hell it can't be more embarrassing than his FT shot now.
Yeah, but the irony.. I went to the Pistons season ticket holder party this year... and lost a free throw shooting contest to a guy who had to be half my age. It's horrible to get old. Edit: I don't know Chuck.. just followed him since he came to Lexington. so I know him about as much as I know Tayshaun Prince, Rajon Rondo, Keith Bogans... etc etc I have seen them play many games... that's about it. Though I did get to "meet" Nazr and Tayshaun at the Pistons thing. Also met Jason Maxiell and Amir Johnson
